Unmistakable presence - 2002-07-28

Last summer the church wrapped up $9-million of renovations to the Sandcastle retreat and the Osceola Inn, growing its hotel space to 565 rooms around downtown. When the new building is completed, 48 more hotel rooms will be available in the Fort Harrison. The church plans to convert rooms now used for religious counseling back to hotel rooms. The rooms are used by thousands of Scientologists from around the world who visit the Clearwater church.

Once those rooms are converted back to hotel units, the full Fort Harrison will be back on the property tax rolls. The new building, however, will likely be tax exempt because it will be used exclusively for religious purposes.